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Tuesday, April 7, 2015

White Bread–Sandwich Bread

Why bake bread when it is available on the shelf of a grocery store? Homemade bread tastes a lot better and many customizations are possible and also the aroma of fresh bread is so heavenly. Once we smell the beautiful aroma of bread while baking, we would always prefer to make (bake) it at home. It’s simple and fun, baking bread. There are many types of bread and this one is plain white bread. Always slice the bread just before use as unsliced bread lasts longer.

MethodHeat water in a Microwave for 15 seconds. Take sugar in a mixer bowl and add the luke warm water and dissolve it by stirring.The temperature of water needs to be between 100 and 110 degrees F.Add the yeast and stir to mix and set aside for 10 to 15 minutes or till the mixture is foamy and bubbly. At this (38oC and 40oC) temperature the yeast multiplies fast. So do not be in a hurry—let the temperature be right for perfect raising bread.Meanwhile take a deep bowl and add oil to it. Smear the oil all over the bowl and keep it aside. After preparing the dough we will keep it in this oiled bowl so that the dough will not get dried up. After 15 minutes, observe the yeast mixture. Now the yeast solution is foamy.Fix the mixer and hook up the dough blade to it. Add salt and oil to the yeast solution.Run it on low speed and slowly add the flour while the machine is running. When half of the flour is added, increase the speed of the mixer to medium. After adding the entire flour, increase the speed of the machine to high and knead it. Observe that the dough is soft and sticky.Sprinkle a little flour on a clean platform and transfer the dough to the floured platform and start kneading with hand till it is smooth. If the dough is sticky dust your palms with more flour and start kneading it.Fold the dough and turn around a quarter and again fold it and turn around a quarter—like this repeat till you get smooth dough.When the dough is smooth place this dough in the oiled bowl and turn it so that the dough is covered with oil from all sides. Cover the bowl loosely with a plastic cover.Allow it to rise until doubled or even more, about one hour.Smear the oil all over the loaf pan and keep it aside.Once the dough raises 3 times the original quantity, Punch it down and bring back the dough to its original size.Sprinkle some flour on a clean platform and knead the dough for few seconds. Make it into log shape and pinch the seams.Place this dough in the prepared loaf tin and spread it evenly. Cover the pan loosely with a plastic cover and keep it aside for raising.After nearly one hour observe that the dough is double in size. Now the dough is ready for baking. Preheat the oven in convection mode at 350 F (180oC).Apply milk on the top surface of the dough with a brush or dip a paper napkin in milk and coat the dough with milk.Place this pan in the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes. Depending upon the color of the bread and the doneness, increase or decrease the time slightly.When done remove the pan from the oven and wait for few minutes. Loosen the sides with a knife and turn the bread on to a wire rack.Turn it around and tap to hear a hollow sound which indicates that the bread is baked properly. Apply ghee or butter on the bread so that it will not dry.Cool the bread completely on the wire rack before slicing it. When the bread is completely cooled off take a sharp knife and cut it into slices.Store them in a box till use.

I am also 'why bake when we can buy' school of thought. But thats mainly because of having lost some of my teeth from my old bread baking experiences :D. If it turned out like yours, I would be baking bread more often :-)

Dear Friends,Thank you for reading my blog post. Your comments and feedback is very valuable and I appreciate it very much. Please leave your valuable comments and feedback for this post. Thanks Sowmya